Some Cowboys in Here
by Run And May We Meet Again
Summary: Soon after saying goodbye to Donna, the Tenth Doctor's cranky Tardis crash-lands him in Leadworth – where he meets young Amelia Pond. AU. Amy and Clara's stories reinvented with the Tenth Doctor.


**Note: **_Although based on the show, as a retelling of the 11th Doctor's run with the 10th Doctor instead, this story goes in its own direction. Scenes may be similar at first and actual dialogue will often be used, but there is a lot of original story and plots. The overall locations and episode themes are mostly maintained, but this story is not simply an edited version of the show. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Apples<strong>

Donna was gone, and the Tardis had never been so quiet.

The Tenth Doctor stood by the console, staring down at it without really seeing, and contemplated where to go next. He always hated goodbyes, and he was certain they were getting worse.

Rose, Martha, and Donna were the companions of this regeneration, and he supposed it was good they went on to live their lives rather than meet an untimely end. Yet the ache of loss, and pain of absence, remained. He didn't dare look up from the many buttons and levers in front of him, to once again be reminded of the emptiness around him. Sometimes, if he concentrated enough, Ten could still hear echoes of Rose's kindness, Martha's curiosity, and Donna's humour. It was the music of their laughter he held onto the tightest.

They'd had the best of times, but now it was all over - only he remained.

Again.

The Tardis hummed, and the floor shuddered beneath the Doctor's feet.

Startled, Ten barely had time to grab a hold of something solid before the ship tried to violently hurl him sideways. Clinging to the seat like a frantic monkey, Ten tried to figure out what was going on. He yelped and demanded answers, but the ship spiralled about and groaned with a rather agonised sound. Making a dive for the console, Ten clutched anything to keep him relatively upright, and fiddled around trying to gain control.

'What are you doing?' Ten shouted, worried he was going to be thrown into a wall if the Tardis spun any faster. 'What-!' He fell sideways onto the grating floor.

They were falling – no, crashing – at an unconstrained speed. Sparks jolted from the console, and heat flared through the room. Ten scrambled to grab a lever, and swerved a dial, but the Tardis didn't respond.

'What's happening?' He wanted to know, shocked and confused by the sudden chaos. They hadn't even been in flight!

Feeling gravity approach, the Doctor braced himself for a rough landing. Luckily, he somehow ended up in the swimming pool. Ten noticed various books floating on the surface of the water, and quickly climbed out. Discarding his soaked jacket nearby, he had a better look around – the pool wasn't alone.

'What?' Ten ran a hand through his wet hair. 'What!'

His next concern was the fact the door was way above him, and that's when he knew the day certainly could get worse than it already was. Exhaling a puff of frustration, Ten found a grappling hook and took aim. He'd climbed Mount Everest once with two chaps named Tenzing and Edmund, though at least that high venture had been by his own choice.

Well, almost.

With one final struggle, Ten hoisted himself through the opening of the Tardis. The doors looked rather strange when opened outwards, he noticed. It also appeared to be on its side, which was never a good sign.

'Oh.' Ten peered over to see he was being watched by a young girl with red hair. 'Hello!'

He swung himself up into sitting position, but underestimated the distance and fell onto the ground.

'Are you okay?' The girl asked him, sounding Scottish.

'I'm fine.' Ten got up. 'Just had a fall. The library – all the way down there. Hell of a climb back up.' He shook his head like a dog, as it was still wet from his surprise swim.

'You're soaking wet.' She said.

'Yeah. I was in the swimming pool.' Ten tried to squeeze-dry his tie, only to notice it was considerably singed. 'Oh, no! I really liked this tie.' He sulked, pulling it loose to drape over the sided Tardis.

'You said you were in the library.' The girl pointed out, as if accusing him of lying.

'So was the swimming pool.' Ten explained, giving her his proper attention.

The sky was dark, and she was dressed in her nightie. He looked around – they were in a backyard, and his Tardis had robbed the owner of a shed during the crash-landing.

'Are we in Scotland?' Ten delighted.

'No.' The girl frowned. 'We had to move to England. It's rubbish.'

'And where in England?' He wanted to know, wondering why his Tardis deemed it necessary to drop out of the sky a that particular place. 'When in England?'

'Don't you know?' She stared. 'Leadworth. It's Easter, 1996.'

'1996. Leadworth. Easter.' Ten repeated thoughtfully.

'Are you a policeman?'

'Why?' He quirked an eyebrow. 'Did you call for a policeman?'

'Did you come about the crack in my wall?' She asked.

He caught a brief change of emotion in her eyes at the question. The brave girl, who questioned a stranger who had fallen from the sky without much concern, was quite worried about a crack in her wall.

'What crack?' Ten was intrigued. 'I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?'

'Amelia Pond.' She answered.

'Nice to meet you, Amelia Pond.' Ten beamed at her.

The girl smiled back, then gestured for him to follow her into the house. Ten glanced over at his Tardis, checking his beloved ship was in no immediate danger, then wandered after Amelia.

'If you're a doctor, why does your box say Police?' She asked as they stepped inside the house.

'Why can't I be both?' Ten wondered. 'Maybe I dabble with a bit of police stuff on the side. I could be a chef too, you never know. Or a fireman.'

'Sounds like a lot of work.'

'It does, doesn't it?' Ten frowned. 'So, where is this crack? Does it scare you?'

Amelia looked at her shoes, then up at him, and nodded.

'Well, no time to waste!' He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

They arrived in Amelia's bedroom in short time. The Doctor took an immediate interest in the wall and rushed over to examine the wide, slightly W-shaped crack.

'You've had some cowboys in here.' Ten commented, pressing his cheek to the wall to look at the crack from a closer angle. 'Well, not actual cowboys. Although, that can happen.'

'I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them.' She said, offering him an apple. Ten turned around when she spoke, and looked at the fruit he was being gifted.

'I love apples.' Ten smiled, taking it.

He admired the smiley face, then faced Amelia. She was a strange child, he knew, but in a way he found very new. He loved new things – like the crack in the wall, which was quite an odd thing indeed. Slipping the apple into his pocket, feeling a little out of place without his tie and jacket, the Doctor approached the wall again.

'There's a draught, but where's it coming from?' Ten wondered.

He licked the wall, and heard Amelia make a sound of disgust.

'Just your standard wall.' Ten noted. 'The crack doesn't go all the way through it. Definitely wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. This crack isn't in the wall – you could knock the wall down and the crack will still be here. Though best not to do that, just in case.'

'If it's not in the wall, where is it then?' Amelia asked, joining his side.

'Well, in short – everywhere.' Ten begun to explain how it was a split – two parts of space and time that should never have touched.

He'd cupped his hands trying to listen closer, and knew Amelia would have heard the voice as well. Prisoner Zero was just another layer to the mystery. The only certainty was the best chance of snapping it shut would be to open it all the way. That could get rather messy, though the Doctor believed he could handle it.

'Ready?' Ten held Amelia's small hand, waiting for her nod of affirmative. Standing protectively in front of her, without releasing her hand, the Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the crack.

It widened, and the bedroom filled with a bright light.

* * *

><p>'So, you just crashed here?' Amelia asked, seated across from the Doctor at the kitchen table. 'In your real time machine?'<p>

'Yep.' Ten made a popping sound, his eyes focused on the apple and butter knife in his hands. He made a curve, and dropped the excess apple into his mouth.

He turned the fruit around, holding it out to show Amelia.

'What is it?' She looked up from her own apple, where she'd made a smiley face. 'Looks like your box.'

'Yep.' Ten nodded proudly, admiring his Tardis-carved shape on the apple. He glanced behind him to the darkened hallway, and considered for a moment.

'Does it get lonely, in your box?' Amelia wondered, eyes fixed on her carving.

'Sometimes.' Ten sighed, putting his apple down on the table. 'But not always. I had someone. She was special. We had the best of times.'

'What about her was special? Was she your wife?' The girl wondered.

'No. No, she was...' Ten stumbled for the right word to describe Donna. 'She uh, more like – sister! Yes, that's the one. She was a bit like a sister, I suppose. A best friend, really.' He nodded.

'I never had a sister.' Amelia shared. 'Or brother. You're lucky.'

'What about your mum and dad?' Ten had noticed the continued near-vacancy of the house in the middle of the night. 'I thought they'd have woken up by now, with all the noise we're making running around the house counting doors.'

'Don't have a mum and dad.' She said, watching him. 'Just an aunt.'

'I don't even have an aunt.' Ten sighed, leaning back in his seat.

'Lucky.' She repeated.

'Well, an aunt's not so bad.' He shrugged. 'Where is she?'

'She's out.'

'Leaving you all alone?' Ten stared.

'I'm not scared.' Amelia insisted.

'Never said you were.' The Doctor said. 'Box falls out of sky, man falls out of box, man carves box into apple, and look at you, just sitting there. If not for the crack in the wall, I'd say you're not scared of anything.' He grabbed an apple from a nearby bowl and bit into it, relishing the juicy taste of his second favourite fruit.

After Bananas, of course.

'Your friend. What was her name?' Amelia wondered.

Donna herself had asked him that same question, about Rose. Ten swallowed and averted his gaze, despising vicious circles and their need to cause him lingering pain.

'Donna.' Ten said quietly. 'Her name was Donna.'

'What happened?' Amelia asked. 'Where did she go?'

'She forgot me.' Ten swallowed again. 'She just went home, back to her life.' He wanted to say that's fine – its good, but he couldn't.

There was quiet, as the Doctor finished his apple and tossed the core into the kitchen sink with unintentional accuracy. Amelia finished her smiley face, and showed it to him. It was the same as the pocketed one she'd given him, except it had spiky lines at the top – likely a representation of his hair.

He praised her art with a beaming smile.

'I won't ever forget you, then.' Amelia decided. 'I think, if I ever had a brother I'd want him to be just like you.'

A rattle lured their attention to the source of the sound – a large metallic box resting on the counter near the sink. It shook once more, then stilled.

'What does prisoner zero look like?' Amelia asked, not having the chance to see it when the Doctor extracted the escapee earlier.

'A worm. Bit of a snake.' Ten shrugged, not having the clearest view either in his rush to contain it with great difficulty.

'Are you going to take it back to prison?'

'Yep. Have to.' He nodded. 'The box is bigger on the inside, but won't contain it forever.' He stood, and offered his Tardis-carved apple to Amelia in return to the one she'd given him.

'Are you going to leave now?' Amelia rose as well, watching him sadly. 'In your time machine?'

'Well, you know what the best thing about having a time machine is?' Ten lifted the box into his arms as if it weighed nothing.

'What?' She asked, following behind him, as he returned to the backyard. The Tardis looked the same, minus the previous smoke and distressing noise.

'No matter how far I travel, I can always come back.' Ten said, then paused. 'Well, almost always. Mostly always. In this case, always.'

He walked to the open doors and peered inside. Ten sighed, and placed the box on the corner of the Tardis to free his arms. He unlatched the grappling hook from the wheelbarrow, and climbed to sit on the open doorway with his legs hanging inside.

'Can I come?'

Ten halted, and turned to look at the seven-year-old watching him. He saw her own loneliness, and a hope for adventure. She was brave and clever; they always were. He looked back into the depths of the Tardis, and considered her request.

'I'll have to right her up, and check for any damage.' Ten said, thinking aloud. 'Give me five minutes, and I'll be right back.'

'People always say that.' Amelia said quietly, hope fading.

Ten hopped down and approached her, making sure she could see the truth in his words. Did he even look like people?

'Am I people?' He asked her, placing a hand on her head. 'Amelia Pond, five minutes – I promise. Trust me, I'm the Doctor.'

She cast him a smile and nodded.

Ten got back up onto the Tardis and flexed his neck in preparation of the long way down, hoping the swimming pool didn't move in the short time it would take for him to fall that far. He dropped the box down first, and was relieved to hear the splash of water. It was secure, and would sink, so Ten was confident enough he could retrieve it.

'Five minutes.' He repeated, nodding to Amelia. 'Allons-y!' He yelled, and jumped into the depths of his ship.

Amelia packed the moment the blue box faded away. She grabbed anything important – clothes, teddy bear, toothbrush – and hurried back outside.

It was late at night and she should be tired, but Amelia was too excited to even notice. She sat on her suitcase, and looked up at the stars wondering if she was going to see any of them up close. It wasn't just a time machine, he'd told her while sitting on the container with a struggling prisoner zero trying to free itself as the Doctor fumbled for the latch.

He wasn't lying, like most adults did, and Amelia knew he was coming back – just like he promised.

She sat here, wrapped in her duffel coat, with a wooly hat on her head. She wasn't always a patient person, but this time she was content to sit in the garden and wait for her new friend to come back in his magic machine.

Minutes ticked by, and still little Amelia waited.

The air became colder, and the shadows darker, until finally the now-familiar sound reached her ears. She looked up, grinning wide, as the blue box reappeared. She jumped to her feet, and dragged the suitcase closer to the door. The box looked a lot bigger the right-way up. The Doctor didn't emerge, however, so Amelia knocked.

It opened, and the Tenth doctor looked down at her with sadness.

'I'm ready.' Amelia said, pretending not to notice his lack of enthusiasm.

'Sorry – that was quite a bit more than five minutes.' Ten ran a hand through his hair. He looked at her suitcase, and sighed. 'Amelia, something's wrong.'

'What?' She frowned. 'Like the crack in my wall?'

'No, not exactly.' Ten said. 'I did some checking – the Tardis didn't bring me here by accident. I was supposed to meet you, but you're not supposed to come with me. Not yet.'

'Then when?' Amelia asked, slumping shoulders. 'Tomorrow? Next week?'

'Uh, bit longer.' Ten winced. 'Years. If I leave again now, I won't be able to come back until you've grown up. Timelines are complicated – it's not time yet.'

'Why?' Amelia dropped her suitcase roughly on the ground. 'I'll take forever to grow up!'

'Humans always think that, but it goes by quicker than you think.' He said. 'Next thing you know, you've got a too-tight suit and a mortgage.'

'But why?' Amelia pleaded for a reason.

'Life is made up of many big things and hundreds of little things.' Ten tried to explain. 'Some good, some bad, but they're all important. People change all throughout their lives, and those events shape that. You can't come with me yet because there are things in your life that need to happen first. It's a fixed point - I can't bring you with me until you're older. I can't, even if I tried.'

Amelia hung her head, and Ten felt awful. It had been tricky enough convincing the Tardis to come back so he could explain things to her, as simply abandoning the waiting child did not sit the slightest bit well with him.

Amelia, tears in her eyes, looked up at the stars once again. Ten followed her gaze, and got a daring idea.

'Well...' He smiled. 'I can't take you to another planet, or back in time – or forward in time, but I can take you up. Just a quick bit of levitation. Amelia Pond, how would you like to see the night sky up close?'

'Really?' She grinned.

'Yup!' Ten nodded, stepping aside to allow her entrance to the Tardis. The machine gave a hum, but didn't seem about to kick the girl out.

Leaving her suitcase on the grass, Amelia ran forward into the box and gasped at the size of it inside. Her mouth hung open, and the Scottish girl was lost for words.

'I know.' Ten grinned, running along the ramp to the console.

He glanced at the walls, which had turned a strange green tone during his attempt at repairs, and knew that matter wasn't resolved yet. The floor was transparent now as well, giving him a better view of the expanded section below where wires and tools displayed. His ship was cranky, and whatever was going on didn't bode well for the desktop.

Amelia joined him at the console, eyes still wide, as she rose on her tip-toes to get a better look at the controls. Deciding they made no sense to her, she moved to sit on the seat. Ten watched her with a smile, and felt a similar disappointment that she couldn't come along with him just yet.

'Alright, here we go!' Ten lowered a lever, and pushed a button. He whacked a panel with the mullet, and gave Amelia an excited grin. 'Hold on!'

'To what?' Amelia turned around to hug the back of the chair, as the Tardis shot upwards into the night sky. It was a bit bumpy, but not anywhere near as challenging as his usual lack of smooth travel.

When the ship stilled, Ten held out his hand to Amelia. She hopped down from the seat and took his hand, leading him to the door instead. He opened it, gave a few safety warnings, then stepped back so Amelia could admire the view.

Once again speechless, the girl stood transfixed in the doorway. She could hardly tell where Leadworth was anymore, distracted by the patterns of lights and darkness. They hadn't left the atmosphere, but she could still see a huge array of stars above and around them.

It was the most amazing thing Amelia had ever seen.

'There's so much out there, Amelia.' Ten said, standing at her side. 'So much more. Dozens of planets, millions of stars – all of it will still be there, waiting. All that possibility is worth the wait, don't you think?'

'No.' Amelia stated, still in awe. 'I want to see it now.'

'Sure, out here is exciting and new, but your life isn't nothing.' He said. 'All those moments yet to be lived. New friends, new skills, and new places to see – big things and small things, all waiting to happen. You have so much to look forward to. Then one day a blue box will appear in your garden, just as it did tonight. Well, minus the squashed shed. And the smoke. And...anyway.'

'You promise you'll come back?' Amelia turned to stare at him, pulling her eyes from the stunning view. 'When I'm grown up, you'll come back for me and I can go with you?'

'Cross my hearts.' Ten nodded. 'I promise, Amelia Pond, that we're gonna have the best of times.'

Amelia lunged to hug him, and Ten smiled at the embrace. He'd made a new friend, who for now would be stuck on the slow path until they could meet again. He didn't tell her how long exactly the Tardis intended to make them wait, but sometimes it was better not knowing.

All he knew was in hours for him, and years for her, they would be standing in that doorway once again.


End file.
